But Flanagan made it clear the elusive No.1 would be welcomed
back with open arms.

“Benny is a premiership winning player for this club and if he
wants to come back to Australia we will look at it. We’ll
definitely look at it,” Flanagan said after Cronulla’s hard-fought
22-16 win over Canterbury.

“I treat all those players that were here in 2016 (in high
regard) – whether they played in that grand final or not.

“We will weigh those things up in due time and we will
concentrate on the present at the moment.”

Asked if there were any concerns re-signing a player who left
under dubious circumstances, Flanagan responded: “There are no
issues. He made a bad decision

“We love Benny.”

If Barba was to return, Flanagan would play Barba at fullback
and shift Josh Dugan back to the centres.

“We lost Ricky Leutele to the Toronto Wolfpack and Jesse
(Ramien) is off to Newcastle and Duges is quite happy to play in
the centres,” he pointed out.

Flanagan was in upbeat move after watching his side move into
fifth spot via a typically gritty win over the Bulldogs.

It was the Sharks’ fifth consecutive win, many of those
victories coming without the likes of Paul Gallen, Wade Graham,
Luke Lewis and Josh Dugan.

The club’s younger players have stood tall during this
period

“Results are going our way at the moment. They are enjoying
their football,” Flanagan said.

“The (senior players) know these younger players are coming to
get them and they need to play well.”

Gallen said of Cronulla’s form: “The first six weeks were pretty
tough. We played a lot of the top sides – the Dragons twice, the
Roosters, Melbourne - but we’re in a patch now where we can get
some momentum.”